Wednesday, July 29, 2009

First, the last contest winner has been confirmed. Congrats, Vickie McGrew! She's going to receive that cute lil' Pullip doll as well as a bunch of signed books. The web sites will be updated early next week, so watch for the new contest, which will be offering a beautiful Neko print along with signed copies of all my previous Vampire Babylon books!

Last, here's a pic that Dacre Stoker took at our Comic-Con panel, "Bram Stoker: Was He the Joss Whedon of His Day?"

(From left to right: Ian Holt, Steve Niles, Les Klinger, Tony Lee, J.F. Lewis, Jeanne Stein, and me [and, yes, I'm sizing up the audience just before the panel begins, LOL])I'll be blogging about the panel next week at the NINC site, so I'll be posting a link here when it's up!

Monday, July 27, 2009

If you’re wondering why I’m not doing the full-on Comic-Con report this year, it’s because things have changed so much since I started attending…and I’m not just talking about how the crowds have expanded. It’s just that I’m “on the other side of the tables” in most instances, with signings, a panel, and a bunch of people I get to see only at the Con every year. Waiting in lines isn’t an option—and the lines are huge! Also, there are a legion of bloggers and tweeters who flood the Net with panel reports, and by the time I get mine posted, it’s irrelevant. My new Con philosophy is this: if I get to see any fan panels at all, I consider that to be icing on the cake. I don’t raise my hopes to see anything anymore.

Having said that, I did get in to a few panels. I told you about the D.C. Motion Comics presentation, as well as the author panel, on Thursday. But Friday I camped out in Ballroom 20 for a while, where I saw CAPRICA, THE BIG BANG THEORY, and 24 (Keifer!). Saturday was panel-less, except for the one I was on; I’ll be blogging about my experience on the NINC blog next week, so tune in here for when I post the link.

But on Sunday?

I got in to see SUPERNATURAL and SMALLVILLE!!!

Yes, it’s true I didn’t get in to the LOST panel (sob), but as long as I was there for SUPERNATURAL, I was happy. The boys couldn’t attend (double sob), but Eric Kripke (creator, etc.), Sera Gamble and Ben Edlund (writers/producers), Misha Collins (Castiel), and Jim Beaver (Bobby) were on hand. That was plenty satisfactory for me, even though I kept expecting Jensen and Jared to pop out for a surprise.

So what did we get? Cute stuff from the season 4 DVD gag reel, plus five minutes from the first episode of season 5—whoo!!! They wouldn’t show us the beginning of the eppie—they wanted to keep us in suspense about how the boys escape Lucifer—so it took place after the first commercial break. There’s something cool that happened during the clip, so I won’t ruin the moment for you, but let’s just say the boys found Chuck the Prophet, and Chuck has very bad news about Castiel. Then Zach and some angel henchmen show up, Dean smarts off to them, and Dean once again reveals that he isn’t quite as dumb as he pretends he is sometimes. That led to some Q&A, where Kripke confirmed that Castiel is going to play a very big part in the apocalypse storyline. Hunters are going to join forces, and this includes the return of Rufus, Jo, and Ellen (Yay!). Someone asked if Jeffry Dean Morgan would be back to reprise the role of John Winchester, but the man is busy doing movies. We shall see (or maybe they’re keeping this under their hats for a surprise). We know that Jess will return for an episode early in the season, but they wouldn’t give us any more details. The Colt gun will additionally return. Also, this season will show the brothers coming together again, thank God. Oh…and about a season 6? Kripke didn’t rule it out. He said that this season will mark the end of one chapter in the Winchesters’ lives and, who knows? Another season could be the start of a new chapter….

As for SMALLVILLE, Tom Welling showed up with the rest of the regular cast. I don't have to confirm that he was hot. A guy dressed like Batman came up to the microphone and asked when “I’m going to make an appearance on the show.” Hilarious—but Jeph Loeb didn’t answer the question, LOL. They showed a pretty kick-ass trailer for season 9, and it reminded me of why I got sucked into this series in the first place. It looks like there’ll be lots of Lois and Clark, and the first part of the season will take place in the future, where Lois was transported. Mucho, mucho interaction with Green Arrow (who’ll be in even more episodes this season), Impulse, Aquaman, Black Canary, etc. Zod is a hottie. Oh, and the last image in the trailer was of Clark standing on a skyscraper looking down at Metropolis and wearing a flowing black cape, I think (I was sitting in back of a guy with the world's biggest head, so I couldn’t see very well.). In the clip, Clark wasn’t Superman, but it looked very cool nonetheless. The first episode will address the reason Clark isn’t able to fly. Chloe will be over Clark. And they’re hoping for a season 10….

24 was great, too, with a panel that included the Sutherland, Chloe (who is a riot in real life), plus new members of the cast like Katee Sackhoff and Freddie Prinz, Jr. They showed a clip from the first eppie, and it looks like Jack Bauer is finally happy because he’s involved in his daughter’s life and he actually has a family for the first time in ages…but then the captain from THE SHIELD (Whoo!) shows up with a bullet in his arm and he tells Jack that there’s an assassination attempt going down in the United Nations. The new CTU, based in NYC, looks to me like a mellow Vegas casino because it’s dark and sparkly, but other than that, I don’t recall any big spoilers.

And that’s pretty much my report, guys. I’m just jonesing for SUPERNATURAL, but in the mean time, I’m immersed in THE SHIELD (I’m in the middle of a very disturbing season 4. Yikes.).

Thursday, July 23, 2009

First, I have to tell you that Steph Kwan posed some great questions about Vampire Babylon, and I answered in an interview she conducted with me! Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bookaholics_Romance_Book_Club/ to read about Dawn, the series itself, and what might be happening with the Whisper and the dragon....

Did I neglect to mention I'm at Comic-Con right now? I don't attend as many "big" panels any more because the crowds don't allow it. Lines are too long. Ah, the good old days when I used to be able to cruise into the big halls and see the stars. But I still go to comics panels, as I did today. I attended one about Motion Comics, which is just what it sounds like. Comics, such as Batman: Black and White, Superman: Red Son, Batgirl: Year One, and Watchmen have been turned into a form that isn't quite animation...it's more like images from the panels have been put to music and dialogue and the visuals come to life. Very, very cool--art in action. You can see them on iTunes. Paul Dini and Dave Gibbons were among the speakers, and it's always a pleasure to hear them.

I also attended a talk that included my friends Vicki Pettersson and S.J. Day; it was about protagonists who are anti-heroes, a subject close to my own heart, what, with Dawn crossing more and more moral lines in the Vampire Babylon books. If you haven't either author, I recommend them!

Lastly, I had a signing at the Mysterious Galaxy booth (1119, for those of you who are at the Con.). If you visited me and you're reading this, thank you so much! I'll be speaking on a panel at 1:30 on Saturday, then signing afterward. (The subject is "Bram Stoker: The Joss Whedon of His Day"? Dacre Stoker, who wrote the upcoming authorized sequel to DRACULA, will be there. Yes, I am intimidated, so I doubt I'll be offering much in the area of Bram since there are far better authorities on hand, LOL. Joss Whedon, however...him I can talk about!)

Tomorrow is a TV day, but it all depends who I run into at the Con. I have 24, CAPRICA, and DOLLHOUSE on my schedule. Sunday, I'm hoping to get into the SUPERNATURAL room, so cross your fingers for me!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Hey, guys--sorry about the time lag between posts. I got caught up in conference fevor and "lost some time" while preparing and then attending the RWA National Conference in Washington, D.C. The site will be updated really soon, and the winner of the last contest will be announced, so tune into your emails to see if you're the winner! I'll be posting a new contest with the giveaway prizes being one of those supercool Neko Press prints, plus the entire signed Vampire Babylon trilogy....

The conference was great, and it was definitely a different experience attending as a RITA nominee. I lost in the Best Contemporary Series to Karen Templeton, but how can I be huffy about that? She's a great writer and she's a fellow Special Edition author, so congratulations to her!

There were lots of receptions (including one that presented us with a whole line up of incredible "fat free" cupcakes. I don't know if I believe the fat free part, but my tummy sure couldn't tell the difference.). Lots of signings. Lots of meeting people: the fab Samantha Hunter, who writes Blazes, too. Erin Quinn, who has a fantasy book coming out in August that I'm dying to read. Kasey Mackenzie, whose first book from Ace will be released next August; the series focuses on Furies, and I'm excited about her stories, too! And there were many, many more of you, and I look forward to seeing you again and keeping in contact.

Friday, July 10, 2009

You know how you go to YouTube to find something specific and you end up tooling around on it, getting sucked in to every video that pops up? Well, that was me yesterday, but I found this little treat for both fans of SUPERNATURAL and anyone who likes to look at scrumptious guys....

Monday, July 06, 2009

It's back in the saddle time with a Vampire Babylon-related project. I was contracted to write a short story in an Occult Detectives anthology that should be coming out in the fall of 2010. From what I hear, Simon Green and Rachel Caine will be among the authors, so that makes the little fan girl in me jump up and down. It also means I'm doing the whole neurotic "OMG, Simon Green and Rachel Caine will have work in the same book...and I'll have to live up to their awesomeness!"

In spite of all that, I've plotted my story and am ready to write it. It'll take place after the closure of the London VB trilogy, which means that I can't tell you exactly what Dawn will be struggling with since DEEP IN THE WOODS, Book Six, is nine months away from publication. No big spoilers for you!!! But I can say that the story will bring back a lot of Hollywood trilogy elements and will center on an Underground starlet ex-vampire who *might* still be around...if she's not a ghost.

Friday, July 03, 2009

The lovely author, TJ Bennett, has graciously put together prize totes featuring the nominated RITA books. The tote with FALLING FOR THE LONE WOLF is featured today, so if you'd like to try and win it, head over to www.tjbsopinion.blogspot.com. Good luck, and have a great 4th of July!